Mobility project for young people and youth workers

In Erasmus+ Programme the Youth Exchanges and the youth workers’ trainings and networking events are considered Mobilities. Mobility in the field of youth provides many opportunities for young people to acquire competences and grow as individuals, through non-formal and informal learning.

Non-formal learning refers to the learning which takes place outside formal educational curriculum. It has a participative and learner-centered approach; it is carried out by learners on a voluntary basis and therefore is closely linked to young people’s needs, aspirations and interests. By providing an additional source and new forms of learning, such activities are also important means to improve the attainment in formal education and training as well as to address young NEETs (i.e. young people not in employment, education or training) or young people with fewer opportunities and combat social exclusion.

Informal learning refers to the learning in daily life activities, in work, with peers, etc. It is mainly learning by doing. In the youth sector, informal learning can take place in youth initiatives, in peer group discussions, through voluntary activities and in a variety of other situations.

Non-formal and informal learning enable young people to acquire essential competences that contribute to their personal and socio-educational development and foster their active participation in society, thereby improving their employment prospects. Learning activities within the youth field are meant to have a significantly positive impact on young people as well as on the organizations involved, the communities in which these activities take place, the youth field itself and the European economic and societal sectors at large.

A high-quality non-formal and informal learning dimension is a key aspect of all youth projects supported under the Erasmus+ Programme. Youth projects funded by the Erasmus+ Programme must adhere to the following non-formal and informal learning principles:

learning in non-formal contexts is intended and voluntary;

young people and youth workers are actively participating in the planning, preparation, implementation and evaluation of the project;

learning activities take place in a diverse range of environments and situations;

the activities are carried out with the support of professional facilitators (such as trainers, youth workers, experts in the youth field) or volunteers (such as youth leaders, youth trainers, etc.);

the activities usually document learning in a specific, field-oriented way.

The activities must also be planned in advance and be based on participatory methods that:

allow participants to contribute to the activities with their own knowledge and skills, reversing the traditional roles of outside “experts” (a reversal of learning, from extracting to empowering);

allow participants to undertake their own analyses, including reflections on competences acquired during the activity (i.e. their own learning outcomes);

ensure that participants have influence over project decisions, not simply involvement.

Finally, the activities should have an intercultural/European dimension and:

encourage participants to reflect on European topics and to involve them in the construction of Europe;

offer participants the opportunity to identify common values with persons from different countries in spite of their cultural differences;

challenge viewpoints that perpetuate inequality, discrimination;

promote the respect of cultural diversity and fight against racism or xenophobia.

Youth Work
“Youth work” is defined as activities that intentionally seek to impact young people. This is primarily a set of loosely affiliated activities that have been defined, redefined, examined, and reinvented in subsequent generations. (Smith, M. (2001) Definition, tradition and change in youth work Encyclopedia of Informal Education.)
A youth worker is a professional or a volunteer involved in non-formal learning who supports young people in their personal socio-educational and professional development.